


How to Leave the Past in the Past

by Annide



Series: 1998, or the year everything changed [13]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Multi, moving forward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-13 22:44:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16901235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annide/pseuds/Annide
Summary: Percy Weasley's story: Percy made a lot of mistakes during the war. Now that it is over, he needs to ask for forgiveness from family and friends, but also himself, and learn to move forward.





	How to Leave the Past in the Past

                _Percy was five years old when the First Wizarding War ended. He didn't remember much of it. He knew there was a lot of joy and relief that night. He could see his parents and even his older brothers celebrating. What he did remember very clearly, even years later, was that brief moment when his mom stopped and picked up Ron, his 20-month-old brother, and turned to his dad, suddenly looking sad._

_"The Potters' son is about Ron's age and his parents died tonight. What will happen to him now? Who will take care of that poor boy?"_

_"I don't know, Molly," Percy's dad replied, "but I'm sure Dumbledore will do everything in his power to keep him safe."_

_"I hope they'll put a picture of him and his scar in the Daily Prophet tomorrow."_

_"Bill! That is disrespectful, and only a rumour."_

_Percy also remembered how he suddenly started finding his mom crying, looking at pictures of his uncles, her brothers. He hadn't seen her do so during the war, and as a little child, he was confused by the sadness such a happy event like the end of You-Know-Who had brought._

Seventeen years later, Percy understood. A war meant difficult decisions, mistakes, sacrifices, losses. A war brought pain, misery and sadness on both sides. Winning the war didn't cancel out the bad choices or bring back all the people who had given their lives to achieve this goal. Of course, he was absolutely delighted by their victory over Lord Voldemort, but he felt guilty more than anything else. He knew he hurt his parents and siblings when he left them. He knew it caused them pain to not have him around anymore, to have him on some other side, pretending he didn't know them, treating them at best like they didn't exist. He knew all of this, he realized it a while ago. And maybe it was why it took him so long to come back. He couldn't face his mistakes, couldn't stand in front of his family knowing he hurt them. He didn't have the strength to admit he had been wrong.

                Percy didn't have that many friends and after the last few years, definitely not any close ones. He spent most of his evenings alone, and that's how he liked it, but sometimes he got lonely, sometimes he had bad days and wished he had a friend he could just meet with. His brothers would say he couldn't make good connections with people because of his stuck-up personality, ambition and love for the rules. But that mainly explained why he was so drawn to power, why power corrupted him. Maybe his attraction to power was, in fact, what made him closed-off to other people. It kept him from getting close to others while making him more vulnerable to the dark side.

                Because to him, that's what it had been. He had a chance to work at a position in the Ministry that was close to the power, where he could feel the power. And it corrupted him. He enjoyed it and was afraid to lose it. To the point where he took the Ministry's side of denying Voldemort's return without thinking it through. Without taking the time to examine the evidence, to weigh both sides of the story. He had been eager to believe what the people around him, the people with the power, told him. And, in a way, he wanted to believe them. He didn't want Voldemort to be back and it was so easy to pretend he wasn't. To pretend the Second Wizarding War wasn't happening. It was the easiest path, and also the one who benefited him the most.

                _It was a few months after he finished Hogwarts. Percy was working as Barty Crouch’s assistant. As such, he was often very busy and so was Penelope. It had taken a strain on their relationship. They couldn't see each other as often as they used to and neither of them was ready to take the next step and move in together. Penelope felt like he put all his efforts on his work and didn’t care enough about them. She was right, as much as he loved her, he did prioritize his career over her. He didn’t blame her for breaking up with him. However, after three years together, he did feel sad to see her go, and he missed their time together._

_He was out drinking one night, when he ran into Oliver Wood. The two of them had often clashed at Hogwarts. They shared the same dormitory and were both ambitious and very determined to achieve their goals. They_ _bonded over their strong will to succeed. Percy wanted to be prefect then Head Boy and eventually Minister for Magic. Oliver wanted to be Quidditch captain, win the Cup at Hogwarts and have a career in the sport.  The others didn't understand why they wanted it so badly, why it was so important for them to accomplish those things. They each alienated people, but not each other. As everyone else kept their distance from them, they grew closer and closer to each other.  Their strong personalities often created conflicts between them, but also passion. When they were in fourth year, they would often get together in hidden parts of the castle, to explore their sexuality. They would kiss and caress each other for long moments. Sometimes, they did it to explore what it made them feel, sometimes because they longed for each other, sometimes just to relieve some of the stress they felt to perform._

_Now, they were both on their way to achieving their goals. Percy worked at the Ministry, hopeful he’d be able to climb the ranks, and Oliver was in the reserve of the Puddlemere United  Quidditch team. However, they were starting to realize that life after Hogwarts was a lot harder than they’d expected. Oliver felt a lot of pressure to always be better and Percy had just lost his girlfriend of three years._

_Strangely enough, Percy was the one to initiate things. They had gotten to talking and he let his desire take over. He grabbed Oliver’s head, pulled him closer and kissed him. Oliver kissed back and Percy never made it back to the Burrow that night._

                _Over the years, Percy and Oliver kept getting together every once in a while. They would have sex then talk for a while. It was all either of them needed, just someone to have a good time with and relieve some stress, someone to be there and listen, someone who knew what was going on in their life. When Percy had a big fight with his father and left the Burrow, Oliver's apartment was where he went. His friend didn't understand why he felt that way and was so determined to side with the Ministry instead of his own family, but he listened to him and helped him find a place to live on his own._

_Oliver came over to Percy's and held him for hours while he cried, after he saw Voldemort at the Ministry and realized he had been wrong this whole time. Percy had made a huge mistake, but he couldn't face his family. He couldn't go back to them now, after everything he had said to them, after how horribly he had treated them. Oliver tried to convince him to mend his relationship with his family. He knew the Weasleys, they would welcome back their son without a second thought. His siblings might give him a hard time, but they would also be happy to see him again. However, Percy was a proud man who felt ashamed of himself and he wasn't ready to admit he had picked the wrong side._

                _After Voldemort had the Minister for Magic killed and took over the Ministry a year later, Percy felt lost. He stayed at work, not really knowing what else to do. More than ever, he was aware of the fact he was on the wrong side of the war, but he had no idea where to start to change that. It felt too late to go back to his family. It had been years, years of shunning them despite knowing they had been right about Voldemort the whole time. How could he go back to them now? He would never forgive himself, so how could they? He started isolating himself. He felt bad about everything and he didn't know how to fix it. He even pushed Oliver away._

                _Weeks went by and no one had any idea where Harry Potter had gone. It seemed Voldemort had won and there was no hope to fight back anymore. If even the Boy Who Lived showed no sign of trying anything, was there even any point at all? Misery spread all around. Everyone at the Ministry lived in fear. Percy grew angry. He couldn't take any of this anymore, he wanted to do something. But he still couldn't face his family. He couldn't even get himself to talk to Oliver. That's when he started writing to Aberforth. He kept himself up to date on what was going on, and when Aberforth sent him word that Harry had come to Hogwarts and everyone was preparing to fight, he barely hesitated to join._

                The Battle had just ended. Percy sat silently with his family around Fred's body. He didn't know what to say, he felt like it was his fault. He made a joke and his brother died. Now, they were stuck with him, the jerk who abandoned them and treated them like trash, instead of with Fred, someone they actually liked and got along with. For now, they didn't realize it. Everyone was too busy reassuring Molly that Charlie was fine and would join them any minute, he probably just hadn't heard the news yet. However, as soon as the last of them arrived, they would come to the same conclusion Percy did and get angry with him. He was prepared for his parents to resent him eternally. And he believed he would deserve it.

                The only one to say anything that day, the only one to show anger toward him was Lee Jordan, Fred's boyfriend. Percy understood him, of course he was mad, of course he blamed him. Percy blamed himself. He felt awful about abandoning his family, about missing the last few years of his brother's life, he might never forgive himself for any of it. Percy had done a lot of mistakes since he left Hogwarts. He realized now more than ever that being an adult meant knowing when to admit you were wrong and apologize.

                A week after the Battle, Fred's funeral was held, followed by a gathering at the Burrow. His parents disappeared upstairs as soon as everyone made it there from the cemetery. Percy followed a few minutes later. He asked for their forgiveness for the years he spent away from his family, for the way he treated them and for Fred's demise. He fell apart crying and his mother took him in her arms.

                "Oh, Percy, what happened to Fred wasn't your fault. We don't blame you for that. I'm sure he was really happy to see you again. I'm glad you were there with him at the end."

                "And of course we forgive you, son," Arthur added. "Must've been hard for you to come back and face us after everything."

                They hugged and cried together for a long while. Then, Percy left his parents alone, they needed time to themselves and he wanted to talk to his siblings too. When he got back downstairs, however, Bill, Charlie and Ginny were outside, clearly in the middle of something. As George and Ron weren't present, he found himself unable to have a conversation with any of them.

                As he looked around the room, unsure what to do and feeling out of place, his eyes fell on Oliver. He had seen him in passing at the Battle, but he didn't really have time to say anything to him. Now that he did, he realized how much he missed him these past few months, how much he regretted pushing him away. He started walking toward him when their eyes crossed, only for an instant. Oliver's were full of sadness as he quickly turned away. Percy wasn't surprised, he knew he had hurt him.

                Oliver kept in touch with some people from his days at Hogwarts and got along with his teammates at Puddlemere United, but he didn't have anyone he could really talk to, outside of Percy. He didn't have a best friend, no one really understood him the way he wanted them to. He felt like he didn't know how to connect with other people. It always seemed so easy for everyone else. They were so social and made friends like it was nothing. He had more trouble. He hung out with people of course, but it never seemed to progress much more than that. It never turned into a close friendship where you share confidences and can know what's going on in the other person's mind without them saying anything. He only had Percy. And Percy knew that, he knew he left Oliver on his own with no one to rely on when he pushed him away. He knew how much it would hurt him, but he did it anyway. He really had been only thinking of himself for the past few years, but he hoped he could get the people he cared about the most to forgive him his selfishness.

                "Oliver, wait!" Percy said as he caught up with him.

                "Oh, so you're talking to me now. Did you see me and remember I exist?"

                "I deserved that. I'm sorry I pushed you away, I was a selfish jerk. I should've talked to you. You were right about everything all along."

                "I always am."

                "Well, I'm not sure about always, I mean before all this mess during the war, I used to be right quite a lot of the time."

                "Is that really something you want to include in your apology?"

                "No. I made a lot of mistakes in the past few years, Oli, but they say that's how you learn and grow and become a better person. All I want is to be better. I promise to always be there for you from now on. Please, forgive me. And be my friend again?"

                "I don't want to be your friend anymore, Percy."

                "Surely there must be something I can do to fix things between us."

                "I'm tired of the way our relationship is. Being friends with benefits doesn't work for me anymore. We were spending most of our time together, having sex with each other, but with nobody else. Like boyfriends."

                "What do you mean by that?"

                "I mean that we can't go back to the way things were. We either move forward and become boyfriends or we end this."

                "Guess that means you forgive me?"

                "I guess it does, but if you ever do something like this to me again, you will learn just how great I am at hexes."

                "I don't plan to. I heard stories from the twins and Harry of how scary you can get, I don't want to experience it myself."

                "They deserved it every time I yelled at them, I assure you."

                "Oh, I believe you."

                Oliver stayed silent for a minute before adding, "I'm sorry about Fred, by the way."

                "It's been hard. I don't know how much longer I can stay here. I feel out of place, and my siblings have other things on their minds than what I have to tell them."

                "Let me get you home, you can make things right with them another day."

                Percy nodded and took the hand Oliver offered him. Maybe it would be easier to ask his siblings for forgiveness some other time.

                _It was late July. Bill had been back from his first year at Hogwarts for a month. Everyone was getting ready to celebrate Ginny's second birthday. The Weasley family tradition had always been to move children from a crib in Arthur and Molly's room to their own room when they turned two. However, they had a problem this time. There was no room left and they couldn't afford adding one either. Two of the kids would have to share._

_"I share with George," Fred said._

_"There's no room left with us," George added._

_"Of course. You two are already sharing, two others will have to." Arthur said._

_"You'll see, having a brother in your room is fun." Fred put his arms around his twin._

_"Why don't Ron and Ginny share? They're the youngest, it's only fair. I can't have a toddler in my room." Bill said._

_"I think that as the only girl, Ginny should have her own room," Molly said. "One of you will have to give her your room and share with one of your brothers."_

_"But they're all so messy and noisy!" Percy protested. "Bill isn't even here most of the year now, he should share."_

_"Well, a year from now, Charlie'll be going to Hogwarts too," Bill said._

_"Mom, I can give my room to Ginny." Charlie said, "I can take Bill's room while he's at school this year. We'll only have to share during summer."_

_"That's very nice of you, Charlie. Thank you."_

_"But I'm the oldest, I want my own room."_

_Molly and Arthur helped Charlie move into Bill's room the next day. There was a bit of an adjustment period, then Bill and Charlie became even closer than they'd ever been. Percy always tried to play with them more, but they often said he was too young and should go be with the others. However, the twins had each other already and they were so different from him. They could never take anything seriously and turned everything into a game. Even from a young age, the twins were terrifyingly adept at magic. It frustrated Percy throughout his life, the fact he made a lot more effort, but was only better than them on paper. With Bill, and soon Charlie, at Hogwarts, Percy became the big brother to Ron and Ginny. Like Bill and Charlie, and Fred and George, the two youngest of the family had a special bond from early on._

_Percy always would be the black sheep of the family. Quieter, cleaner, less adventurous than his siblings. He never quite knew how he fit in. Growing up, he was always afraid he would be sorted in a house other than Gryffindor like the rest of them. But no matter how different he felt, he always felt loved by his parents. And his siblings were always there for him when he needed them._

                Percy realized he was grieving. He was grieving not just the death of his brother, but also the loss of the relationship he used to have with his family. He was grieving who they used to be, who he used to be. None of them would ever be the same. And no amount of guilt, regret and apologies would ever make things go back to the way they used to be. He could never get back the three years he'd spent apart from them.

                He tried at first. He tried to get back missed time. He apologized to each of his siblings, including a lengthy letter to Ron promising to reiterate in person upon his return. He tried to spend time with them as much as he could. However, it proved easier said than done. He met his mother at a small restaurant near the Burrow once a week for breakfast. He asked how she was doing and she answered by giving him news about the others. He mainly saw his father at the Ministry. They didn't work together, but tried to share lunch whenever they could. Percy joined Bill and Charlie several times when they hung out. He had forgotten what it was like back when his older brother still went to Hogwarts and he had them around all the time. Spending time with them felt like maybe there was hope of mending their family and going back to how they used to be. Until Bill went back to work and became too busy to see regularly, and Charlie returned to Romania. With George never even showing signs he heard them through the door, Ron in Australia and Ginny pretty much avoiding everybody, Percy had to move on. He had to stop trying to go back and start living for the future.

                While he still kept contact with his family, Percy worked hard on feeling better about himself and all the mistakes he had done in the past few years. He spent most of his free time with Oliver as they rekindled their relationship. They told each other about what they did during their time apart and learned to know all the little, and sometimes bigger, things about them that had changed in the last year of the war. Percy felt broken, and so did his entire family, but Oliver assured him that all would be fixed in time. They agreed that each Weasley would have to get better on their own before they could hope for the family to be mended.

                Under the new Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Percy got a new job as Head of the Department of Magical Transportation. Among the people working for him was Daphne Greengrass, a Slytherin from Ron's year at Hogwarts, who had also been on the wrong side of the war.

                "I was raised with those pureblood ideals, you know. My parents, my sister and I, we all believed the Dark Lord was right." Daphne said one day after they'd been working together a few weeks.

                "But your parents never joined the Death Eaters, you didn't stay for the Battle." Percy wondered.

                "We still supported our friends who did join. I left at the start of the Battle, because I had started to realize how wrong we'd been. After a year of being taught to torture other students, it felt like it had gotten out of control. I couldn't remember the reasons behind it all. Why did we care so much about blood purity?"

                "I followed what the Ministry told me. I believed them when they said Dumbledore was lying and my family were fools for staying on his side. I betrayed them for power. I have so many regrets about this war."

                "I think we all do. We all made mistakes. Maybe ours were worse because we chose the hateful side, but I think what matters now is how we make up for it. How we move forward and learn from those bad decisions."

                "Oli thinks I need to forgive myself for what I put my family through by disowning them. They forgave me, but I still feel guilty about it."

                "I also have a lot to figure out. So do my friends. We all saw each other at Vincent's funeral and everyone's a mess. Gregory wouldn't even let Draco in."

                "Maybe we can help each other."

                "Maybe we can."

                Percy and Daphne started spending more time together. They worked on the same projects a lot of the time and also saw each other outside the Ministry. She got to know Oliver too. All three of them became close friends over the summer. They even hung out with some of Daphne's Slytherin friends a few times. They were spending so much of their free time together, they started talking about how it was a waste of money to have three apartments. With the arrival of August and Oliver about to leave for training camp, they tabled the discussion until his return at the end of the month.

                As his mother had invited him to an end of summer family dinner on August 31st, Percy was surprised to receive a visit from Bill less than a week before that. He told his brother he had reunited with Oliver, but somehow, maybe because she was a newer thing in his life, Percy ended up talking about Daphne a great deal. Probably too much. Definitely too much judging by Bill's reaction when Percy showed up the next week with Oliver as his date.

                "You have a boyfriend? Since when?" Bill asked.

                "I told you last week, we got back together in May."

                "More like we made it official in May after months apart." Oliver corrected.

                "What he said."

                "Oh, I never knew you had a thing before. Maybe that's why I didn't understand what you meant when you said you were reunited." Bill said.

                "We're actually thinking of moving in together. Us and-"

                "Everyone, George is finally here!" Molly interrupted their conversation.

                Percy hadn't seen his little brother since the Battle. He had heard Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had reopened a few weeks ago, but he hadn't gone by yet. He had never gone to the store since the twins first started it. He felt like he should've gone while Fred was still alive. It was a very important project for them and he had been too arrogant and power-hungry to go take a look. Even if he was in a fight with their parents, he could've made an effort to go anyway. Now, it was one more regret pressing on his heart.

                Percy was taken aback by the sight of George's now long and black hair. He looked like a completely different person, then again, that was probably the point. But it wasn't all. Angelina entered behind him and they announced they were pregnant. Everyone cheered. The family was finally reunited to have dinner like in the good old days. They were all doing a lot better. With good news to top it off. Percy couldn't have hoped for a more successful night. Being back home after all this time felt wonderful.

                Percy, Oliver and Daphne moved into their new place in mid-September. At first, everything was great and they all kept getting along. There were a few fights while they adjusted to sharing the same space, but they resolved quickly. They had been living together for about a month when Percy started thinking the whole thing might've been a mistake. After what happened the past few years with him and his family, Percy decided to be honest and just talk to Oliver about it before it was too late and things got out of hand.

                "Oliver, you know I love you and nothing will ever change that, right?" He said one night when they were in bed.

                "Yes, why? What's wrong?"

                "I'm not sure how to say this, but..." Percy hesitated. He loved Oliver and was afraid he'd ruin their relationship and lose everything. But he knew keeping secrets would lead to the same result eventually. "I think I might be falling in love with Daphne." He paused and Oliver stayed silent. "But I still love you the same. Do you believe it's possible to have feelings for two people at once?"

                "Yes. I can't believe you just told me that. You've grown so much as a person, you've become more honest." Oliver's face was indecipherable. There was no way of knowing what he was feeling at the moment.

                "I think it's important to be honest. I don't want anything getting between us. I don't want our relationship to be destroyed by this. And I really hope it won't affect your friendship with her, you've gotten so close."

                "Perce, I've been thinking about it for a while. I was afraid to say anything, but I think we should ask her on a date."

                "What?" Percy had expected anger or sadness, not this.

                "A date. The three of us. I don't think there's any other solution. I don't think it can end well if we go on like this. You like her, I like her, she doesn't seem uninterested. We should try it."

                "Try it. You mean, being a throuple?"

                "Why not? If it makes us happy."

                Daphne loved the idea. It took them a few weeks of dating to establish how this relationship would work. They truly and finally felt like a throuple when December came and they started receiving invitations to dinners and other celebrations from each of their families and groups of friends. They sat together in the living room to organise where they would go and when. Daphne's family was doing Christmas Eve dinner and Oliver's Christmas day brunch, so there was no conflict there. The Weasleys had decided on a New Year's Eve gathering instead of Christmas this year, because Bill was spending the holiday in France with the Delacours and Ron had promised Hermione a muggle Christmas with the Grangers. Daphne had to turn down an invitation to Gregory Goyle New Year's Eve party. However, they accepted to go to Harry and Draco's Christmas day dinner despite being very busy in those few days, because it was the only thing all three of them received separate invitations to.

                Daphne's parents were disappointed to see her in a relationship with someone who wasn't from a Sacred Twenty-Eight family and with a blood-traitor. Oliver's family was a little confused, but they welcomed the others and were really nice. All the Weasleys wanted was for their children to be alive and happy, and it perfectly described Percy.

                This year had been a turning point in Percy's life. He had started it alone and miserable, at odd with his family and with no one to talk to. Now, he was at a New Year's Eve gathering with his parents, his siblings, their significant others and their families, Harry, Teddy and Andromeda Tonks, and his own partners, Oliver and Daphne. He felt surrounded by so much love, it brought tears in his eyes to think of the road they all travelled this past year. He had never been happier than he was in this moment and was looking forward to whatever would come next.

**Author's Note:**

> Next in this series: Lucius & Narcissa Malfoy (Part 14, coming November 2019), Dennis Creevey (Part 15), Arthur and Molly Weasley (Part 16), Gregory Goyle (Part 17)


End file.
